Come
14 July a fifth Malayalam channel (this is excluding India
Vision, which has begun test signals) is set to officially
make its bow in Kerala.

Jeevan
TV, a wholly owned unit of Jeevan Telecasting Corporation
Ltd promoted by the Catholic Church of Kerala, will be transmitting
in a fully digitised format. The channel is being run from
a studio and uplinking centre located in Kerala's business
capital Kochi.

Reports
quoting Jeevan TV managing director PC Cyriac say the channel
will be a 24-hour one with emphasis on news and current
affairs, information and education. Entertainment will be
second priority.

For
programming, the channel has readied two studios, one solely
for news and the other of other programmes. Jeevan TV claims
it has a bank of programming worth Rs 40 million ready with
it ahead of the launch.

Funding
for the channel, Rs 250 million in the first phase, has
been raised from the public. The company has around 6,000
shareholders

A
unique feature of the channel, according to business daily
The Financial Express, is that it plans to have associations
of its viewers called "Jeevan Clubs", where its
shareholders too would actively participate. These will
be in the form of grassroots level societies, which will
provide feedback about the channel programmes.